No Surprise: Some Glitches in Alaska EAS Test

As part of a concerted effort to enhance the national warning system, a test was conducted yesterday of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in Alaska. This test was quite different from the ones broadcasters normally conduct each month. In this one, federal officials actually used the Emergency Action Notification (EAN) codes. These codes are to be used by the President only, and have never been used before.

The whole purpose of the test was to identify where any problems exist. Bryan Fisher of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management told KTUU-TV they "found a few anomalies with equipment and programming, as expected." Generally, though, the test was a success, says Jeremy Zidek of state Emergency Management. He says the state received the message from the feds, the state passed it along, and most stations transmitted it. He says any problems were generally associated with equipment at the station end. The stations "have various degrees of technology", said Zidek.

Here's the text of the statement transmitted by radio, TV, and cable stations across the state.

"This is the FEMA Operations Center. Standby for a message from the Presidential Communications Office. (pause) TEST-TEST-TEST... This is a test of the Emergency Alert System. The message you are hearing is part of a live code test of National Emergency Alert System capabilities limited to the State of Alaska only. This test message has been initiated by National Alert authorities in coordination with State of Alaska authorities and broadcasters in your area. If this had been an actual emergency, the attention signal you just heard would have been followed by official information or instructions. (this text then repeated three or four times) This concludes this test as of 1405 hours. Stations may now resume normal programming."

For those places where the codes didn't work, old equipment will get the blame. This is a chronic problem for EAS. Many of the broadcasters haven't kept up to date on their EAS equipment. The FCC waived penalties for this test, and hopefully equipment upgrades will follow in Alaska (and elsewhere, for that matter.)